from (L) Dr. Lawrence Appiah, Founder of Freind of JDM-USA and former President Mahama

The founder of Friends of John Mahama in the USA, Dr. Lawrence Appiah has lashed out at the government over the 2019 Budget saying the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Attah presented nothing by a “hopeless budget for 2019”.

According to him in an article sighted by Awake News, the NPP’s budget in 2017 which they [NPP] dubbed Asempa (Good News) budget [ads1]which was aimed at reducing taxes on import duties ended up increasing taxes, depreciating the value of the cedi and increasing fuel prices.

He also stated that the NPP’s “2018 Adwuma [jobs] budget which was aimed at creating jobs ended up collapsing 7 banks and close to a million people losing their jobs” and “The government has spent almost GHC10 billion to collapse those banks”

“So if the 2019 budget is to restore hope, then your guess is as good as mine” – He writes.

He vented his venom on the NPP for saying they are targeting infrastructure development in 2019 when they whiles in opposition vehemently opposed former President Mahama’s vision of providing the country with massive infrastructure development in his 4year rule by telling “Ghanaians that they will not “eat” infrastructure” as one of their key campaign messages in the 2016 campaign.

“The NPP has suddenly realized infrastructure is for development and growth so they want Ghanaians to forget what they told them just two years ago. That cannot happen. You see, and they shamelessly talk about infrastructure in 2019 as if they just won an election a month ago or NDC, under John Mahama didn’t do anything we call infrastructure. If the NPP who told Ghanaians that they will not “eat” infrastructure in 2016, are now telling Ghanaians they are going to build massive infrastructure in 2019, that means two things. It means they intentionally lied to Ghanaians in 2016 just to win power, and they will lie again to Ghanaians in 2019, because they don’t believe infrastructure is for development and growth. They are paying lip-service to infrastructure. The NPP is going to build infrastructure from a Chinese loan they don’t yet have, and you believe that they are going to give you hope?”

Read the full article:

This hopeless budget for 2019

By Dr. Lawrence

I got the name for this write-up from the slogan the NPP gave to the 2019 budget.

They called it a budget of hope. Do we remember the 2017 Asempa budget which was aimed at reducing taxes on import duties but ended up increasing them, depreciating the value of the cedi and increasing fuel prices? Do we remember the 2018 Adwuma budget which was aimed at creating jobs but ended up collapsing 7 banks and close to a million people losing their jobs? The government has spent almost GHC10 billion to collapse those banks. So if the 2019 budget is to restore hope, then your guess is as good as mine.

According to Ken Ofori-Atta in the 2019 budget statement, he said “infrastructure, both hard and soft, is the backbone of economic development and growth, as well as a source of jobs and wealth for a majority of people” Do we still remember what the NPP said about infrastructure during the 2016 elections? So I ask this simple question, when did the NPP realize that infrastructure is good for a country’s development and growth? Sometimes when I think of NPP and lies, I feel like denouncing my Ghanaian citizenship.

The NPP has suddenly realized infrastructure is for development and growth so they want Ghanaians to forget what they told them just two years ago. That cannot happen. You see, and they shamelessly talk about infrastructure in 2019 as if they just won an election a month ago or NDC, under John Mahama didn’t do anything we call infrastructure. If the NPP who told Ghanaians that they will not “eat” infrastructure in 2016, are now telling Ghanaians they are going to build massive infrastructure in 2019, that means two things. It means they intentionally lied to Ghanaians in 2016 just to win power, and they will lie again to Ghanaians in 2019, because they don’t believe infrastructure is for development and growth. They are paying lip-service to infrastructure. The NPP is going to build infrastructure from a Chinese loan they don’t yet have, and you believe that they are going to give you hope?

If you are one of the 53% of the voters who voted for Nana Addo, did you see any hope in the 2019 budget? Did you see yourself, your town or village represented in the budget? Can you say that the change you voted for was finally seen in the budget? Two years in Nana Addo’s government, can you rely on what they keep telling you? As a member of the 53%, is this the kind of government you rushed to the polls to vote for? These are questions, you as a member of the 53%, you have to answer for yourself.

You don’t need any member of the government to answer for you. If you are one of the 53% who voted for Nana Addo and you are not one of the 111 family and friends thieves in this government, but you still have hope that you will one day be part of this create, loot and share brigade, then there is something wrong with you. You need to stop defending your hopelessness.

The writer is the Founder of Friends of JDM
(North America)
Email: Appiah65@Hotmail.com
Phone: 1-703-400-1621

Source: AwakeNewsOnline.com | Efo Korsi Senyo

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Efo Korsi Senyo has over 6 years experience working as an investigative journalist with Awake Africa. He is the Executive Editor of Awake Newspaper and Head of Awake Investigates.
Efo does not only investigate and publish based on the journalism profession ethics but he also brings legal and civil actions against personalities and institutions he investigated. He said fighting against injustice and corruption in society as the only way for him to avenge injustice and corrupt acts he and other vulnerable people faced and continue to face in society.
Efo is also a private investigator, IT expert and entrepreneur.
Connect with him via senyo@awakeafrica.com or WhatsApp: +233249155003

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